The Zindelano Charm
by ChoPotter2
Summary: You have to read this...please read OR review..really sad story...


Alayna Rictorno opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. This was it. Today was the day they would put an end to him. Today they would be using the Zindelano Charm; a charm to have been recorded never used once in the history of the world. Today. Well I'd better eat a good breakfast, Alayna joked to herself.  
  
Alayna Rictorno had just finished her sixth year as a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She was in Gryffindore and loved it. In her mind Gryffindore was the best house and the fact that Harry Potter, same year as she is, was in it, was more proof than she would ever need. Her favorite class was Defence Against the Dark Arts, although she did not like the teacher very much. Professor Langertow was an ex-Deatheater, and in her mind ex-Deatheaters should not be trusted. But then again he was a very good teacher and he knew what the enemy was like.  
  
Alayna walked downstairs to the usual scene in her kitchen on a summer morning. Her single mother hurriedly serving breakfast before it was off to work at the Ministry. Her fourteen-year-old brother, Steve, had his nose buried in a book while he absent-mindedly sipped a glass of orange juice. They had no idea that this day would be looked back on, years to come as the day he fell, once and for all.  
  
"Bye kids!" Her mother called as she rushed out the door.  
  
"Bye mum! Love you!" Alayna called as she ran over and gave her mum a hug and a kiss before she left. Now on a normal day she would not have been so affectionate, but if you have been paying any attention at all you know that this is not a normal day. Lila Rictorno smiled happily at her daughter as she walked out the door. Steve gave her a weird look but then quickly continued reading his book.  
  
Now to get down to business. After Alayna had dressed she thought it best to write her good-bye note, which more likely than not she would be needing. This was going to be hard. It surprised how cheerful she was on a day she had always dreaded. I suppose I'm just cheerful knowing that today the world will be rid of him, she thought. Hmm, lets see how should I say this.  
  
Dear Mom and Steve,  
  
If you are reading this, it means the charm was performed successfully. Please understand that we had to do it. It was the only way to get rid of Lord Voldemort. (She flinched at writing his name, but when they read this it will no longer be a thing of fear). It was a very difficult decision to make, but we decided we had to. I love you both very, very much, with all my heart. Hugs and kisses forever.  
  
Love always,  
  
Alayna There, short but sweet. The note was placed in an envelope marked "DO NOT OPEN UNTIL JULY 11", which was the next day. Glancing at the clock on her wall Alayna saw it was 11:33. Almost time to meet the other MPs (Mini Phoenix's). The original group of MPs was only seventeen people. When their thoughts turned to the Zindelano Charm, they enlisted in the help of their classmates and friends. Every single person they asked to take part said yes, so in no time they had found the thirty-four other people they needed. Alayna grabbed her wand and headed downstairs. This was it. She looked around the family room trying to commit every inch of it to memory.  
  
"Steve?" She called.  
  
"In here." Came a voice from their screened in porch.  
  
"I'm going to meet my friends." She said trying to sound casual although her voice did shake a bit. All the sudden she was overcome with nerves. It's like saying good-bye to her little brother made everything real.  
  
" 'k,." He answered, eyes never leaving the book. She leaned down and gave him a hug and kiss.  
  
"What was that for?" He said wiping his cheek.  
  
"Oh nothing!" Alayna said with a smile. She quickly turned away because her eyes were watering. She had to be brave. It was for the common good.  
  
"Bye." She called over her shoulder getting a grunt as her only reply. She took one quick glance back at him before she disapperated.  
  
She appeared in a field at the exact same time as Parvati Patil, one of her best friends. Padma Patil appeared a moment later. They all exchanged nervous greetings and smiles as they set off into the nearby forest. When they reached their destination, a small clearing in the woods where, don't ask how, they had received news that You-Know-Who would be coming. They arrived to see a very nervous crowd of about thirty students and non- students, boys and girls, Gryffindores and Slytherins, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, all come together to fight this evil.  
  
Shortly after everyone was there, the spell was cast. Then - they waited. Everyone became extremly nervous. None had ever seen him, with the exception of Harry of course. Although she was terrified, Alayna used her Gryffindore bravery and the sparkle never left her bright blue eyes.  
  
They waited and waited until after what seemed like eternity, he appeared. His snarling face was worse than I had imagined. He gasped when he saw us all. Then he began to laugh and a timid young man appeared next to him. At the site of us he let out a yelp and stumbled backward, falling to the ground.  
  
"Pettigrew, get up you miserable lug!"  
  
"Y-yes master." The man called Pettigrew answered. For a moment we just stared. You-know- ah whatever VOLDEMORT'S face broke into a wide evil grin.  
  
"So Potter, think you and your little friends can defeat me eh? Well just out of curiosity, how did you manage to find me?"  
  
Harry glared. "Well you could say one of your servants isn't as loyal as you thought." His eyes fell on Pettigrew. "Once a backstabber, always a backstabber."  
  
"YOU!" Voldemort screamed, turning to Pettigrew. "I CAN NOT HAVE SOMEONE SO UNLOYAL IN MY RANKS! AVEDA KEDAVRA!"  
  
I gasped and a few people screamed. Just like that, Pettigrew was dead. This man, if he was even that, had no mercy. "Now to deal with you. Well lets see.hmmm.. how shall I do it? Do you prefer quick or slow?" He said, not really asking, with his horrible smile. "Well I think I've got it. Any last words?"  
  
"Yeah. Pitter-patter, aloof, crackle, newt." Harry said defiantly, taking a leaf out of Dumbledore's book.  
  
"So be it!" Voldemort said sharply, angered even more. He then screamed some curse that I had never heard before in my life. A black jet of smoke flew from the end of his wand. It hit the unseen barrier and fizzled away to nothing. He stood dumbfounded for a moment before he collapsed! We all started cheering! Jumping up and down and hugging! It had worked! It had worked he was gone! Our happiness was short lived, though. Soon after it happened. Ironically Harry Potter was the first to fall. Everyone stood in silence for a moment, in shock. It seems they had temporarily forgotten what was to happen once the spell was complete. Then Cho Chang and Susan Bones collapsed onto each other. After that all around people began to go. Alayna braced herself, watching all her friends go down. It would be her turn soon. After about five minutes it was just her and Draco Malfoy, son of deatheater, left. It was her or him. One of them would be the witness. They stared at each other, waiting for one of them to fall, not daring to move from the spot they stood in. Who was it going to be? These moments were even more tense than those while waiting for Voldemort. All of the sudden Draco gasped and he fell, stiff as a board flat onto his face. It was her. She was the witness. The charm needed Fifty- one people. Fifty to sacrifice and one to witness. At first she felt happy that she was not dead. Then as she looked around at the dead, lifeless bodies of her friends, Alayna was overcome with grief. She collapsed onto the ground in sobs and stayed there for almost two hours. Until she heard a voice.  
  
(A/N: I got the idea of people sacrificing them selves for Voldemort to die from "Chaos Reigns Supreme" at fictionalley.org by Calypso. Very good story! ) "Holy hogfeathers! What the hell happened here!" Hagrid was standing there looking around shocked at the children lying there, dead and Alayna sobbing in the middle. His eyes then fell on Voldemort.  
  
"Wha-What happened? Did he..."  
  
"The-the Zindelano Charm." Was all Alayna managed to squeak out.  
  
"So their all dead! No no no!" Hagrid said, he to started to cry. He walked over to Alayna, through the see of his beloved students. "Come now, we must summon Dumbledoore." It hadn't occurred to Alayna that this was the Forbidden Forest right outside Hogwarts. She looked around. It wasn't nearly as frightful as she had always imagined it. Hagrid whistled and within moments Dumbledoore came, accompanied my Professor McGonagle. They all were shocked at what happened. McGonagle grabbed her heart and started breathing deep. "The Zindelano Charm I expect." Dumbledoore said in a very somber voice. McGonagle started weeping, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief.  
  
"So then he is dead too." He continued nodding toward Voldemort.  
  
"Well I must go alert the ministry. And the families. Minerva, please take Alayna over to Hagrid's hut. Give her something to eat, and if you can, have her talk but don't force it. Hagrid you stand guard here." The two teachers nodded. McGonagall came over and put her arms on Alayna's shoulders and walked her through the forest to Hagrid's hut. There she was comforted as much as possible by a warm fire and a mug of hot chocolate. She had stopped crying and felt very empty, possibly because there probably wasn't an ounce of water left inside her, or maybe it was the fact that she now had no friends. That was definite. Her mother arrived and waited outside until Alayna would be ready to see her.  
  
Cornelious Fudge came bounding in the hut. He bombarded her insensitively with questions.  
  
"Mr. Fudge, what do you think you are doing? This child has just been through a tragedy. It is not the time to be questioning her as if she was on trial." McGonagall said furiously.  
  
"Well just one thing, how did it seem that Voldemort died?" He asked ready to write down her answer. Alayna was very angery now. This most certainly was not the time for questioning.  
  
"If you will excuse me, I have fifty funerals to attend." She said coldly. With that she stood up walked out of the hut and ran to her mother's comforting arms. They then walked back into the hut, once Fudge had left of course, and traveled by floo powder home. The next few weeks flew by in what seemed to be a never-ending stream of tears, wakes, and funerals. She was surprised that she didn't go into dehydration because of how much she cried. It seems during this time, Alayna seemed to forget that this September, she would be going back to Hogwarts, a building just bursting with memories of her deceased friends.  
  
How on earth am I going to handle this? She thought. No doubt that I will be reminded of them with every step I take. Well maybe I can make lots of new friends with the people who are left. Not to replace my old friends or anything just to fill the emptiness. She concluded that as she fell asleep, tomorrow, she would be boarding the Hogwarts Express.  
  
It's true though, there are not that many people left in her year, Even the one before them and after was dented by the charm. But then again most people lost friends and would be looking for some comfort. Gryffindore tower sure would be lonely though, in her year there was only her and Seamus Finnigan, he had been in a car crash and muggles got there first and took him to one of their hospitals. Taken to a magic hospital he would have healed over night but it took him two weeks with the muggles. He was replaced by Millicent Bulstrode. They had been thinking of asking Steve, but decided he was a little young. Thank God for that, Alayna thought. She was very glad to have her brother, who had been great, acting completely normal. He even ate her last sugar quill, which was great since he normally stole her candy.  
  
"BRIIIIIING, BRIIIIIING, BRIIIIIIIIING!" Alayna woke from her usual nightmare in a cold sweat. Every single night she relived that day, start to finish. It was horrible. She was planning on asking Snape if he would make her an anti-dream potion she had heard about. Hopefully, he would.  
  
Sooner than she probably would have liked, Alayna and Steve were running toward the barrier to Platform 9 ¾. They made it just in time. Alayna found Seamus and sat with him and Steve found his friends. They had a very quiet ride. Both had been deeply affected by the event.  
  
"So.. I hear Snape and Langertow died." He said casually in his usual Irish accent.  
  
"WHAT!" She screamed.  
  
"Yeah, they died on the day you guys did the charm. Possibly even the exact moment Voldemort did. No one knows how either. Karkaroff, remember him from Durmstrung? Also died. Crabbe, Goyle, and Malfoy dad's died too. Same day same time too. Malfoy's mum also died a week later, they say of heartbreak."  
  
Well, hopefully the new potions teacher will be a bit friendlier.  
  
This was weird. Really weird. Five Deatheaters died, possibly at the exact moment that Voldemort did. Very weird. Just then the sweet cart came by and they both got a load of sweets. After that they both made a great effort to talk as normally as possible, avoiding talking about the perished. When the train stopped and they got out, Alayna noticed people starring at her. Great, this is exactly what I wanted, she thought sarcastically to herself.  
  
Inside the Great Hall the walls were lined with little pictures and altars. There was a picture of each person who died in the charm, even those who had already graduated (there were a pretty good amount of them) and the alters, which were made of stone the color of the house they were in (Red for Gryffindoore, Green for Slytherin, Yellow for Hufflepuff, and Blue for Ravenclaw) were for putting flowers or cards. They had large vases stuffed with flowers for students to take and put on their friends. It was all Alayna could do not burst into tears. She somehow managed to pull fifty flowers out of the self-refilling vases and put one down on each alter. Now without her even knowing it tears were silently streaming down her face. She wasn't alone though. Many, many people were also crying. Once everyone was in and all the very nervous looking first years were sorted, Dumbledore stood up.  
  
"I'm sure that you all know the story of how Voldemort fell. Such young people sacrificed themselves for the good of the world. They died with the utmost respect. It may cause us pain now, but that pain will eventually ease away. All of them have received the Order of Merlin, First Class. Unfortunately there is only one person we can express our thanks too. Alayna Rictorno, please stand up take a bow." The applause reached a thundering level, from all tables. Alayna managed a smile, took her bow and sat back down. That first night was torture. She cried herself to sleep, thinking about how she and the other girls would stay up chatting till well after midnight.  
  
Although she looked quite pretty still, Seamus noticed, her eyes don't sparkle like they used too, and that was not her real smile, a smile that always lit up a room. That smile no body has seen since July 10.  
  
Everyone was painfully nice to Alayna for the first month of school. For fifth years, all houses had classes together, since there were only about 7 students left. The new teachers were for DADA Remus Lupin, again. Everyone was pleased with this, him being the best DADA teacher they had ever had. But he was only going to stay for one year again. The new Potions teacher was a tall skinny pointy nosed woman, named Laurel Brode. She was not quite as bad as Snape, and seeing as to most peoples horror Professor Trelawny had become head of Slytherin House, she did not favor one group over the next. She had willingly made the anti-dream potion for Alayna.  
  
One day in potions class it happened. Finally Alayna let it all out.  
  
Two Ravenclaws were talking about the Charm, as it had become known. They hadn't realized that Alayna was sitting behind them. Hearing them talking about the Charm had hurt, but she didn't mind. One of them turned around and noticed her and then they both started apologizing profusely.  
  
"That's it! I can't take this any more! Would everyone just stop being so nice to me! You know you wouldn't normally care if I hadn't been the witness!" She screamed standing up and banging her fist on the table. "I just wish everything could be back to normal! And it's not just the students either!" She spun around pointing at Professor Brode. "The teachers are being so unfair to me! They are not taking points when they should be! Even the owls seem to feel bad for me." She moaned as she sat back down, sobbing. No one knew what to say. "I just want everything to be normal." She let out still sobbing.  
  
"Well" said Brode, "If it helps I'll take five points from Gryffindore for disrupting class." She offered. Alayna's head popped up. "Would you?" She said hopefully.  
  
"Yep. Glad too."  
  
Alayna then dried her eyes and went back to her work, along with the rest of the class. From then on every one treated her normally. The year went by, she passed all her finals. Gryffindore one the Quidditch championship, although it wasn't nearly the same since, all the teams were nearly completely different people. Surprisingly though, they did not win the house cup. Ravenclaw did, for the first time in seventeen years. Alayna was very sad to leave the place where she had lived for the most of the past seven years. Then again at least it would be less painful. Hopefully someday I can return. Just for a visit. She thought to herself. That day would be coming sooner than she thought.  
  
"The Dark Arts ruin lives. If you move to the dark side you are giving up all chance for eternal happiness. You my be temporarily happy, but that won't last. There will always be those who are willing to, and will fight for what's right, and you may crush their bones, but you can not crush their spirit. You will cause your family and friends; no matter what side they are on, pain and heartache. Dark Lords torture and punish even their followers; one toe out of line might find you dead. Or wishing you were. You will lose countless friends and family members because of the heinous acts you performed. You are left in such dispare, feeling vulnerable to the rage of your master, and are willing to do such crimes, merely to hear a "good work" Who would truly want such a pathetic existence?"  
  
Professor Alayna Rictorno, DADA teacher at Hogwarts always read this paragraph out loud to her class on the first and last class of each year. She believed that it was not only her duty to teach the students how to protect themselves from the dark side, but to also reveal its miseries to them. Today, first class, she would be teaching her seventh years a lesson very personal to her. She would be explaining the Zindelano Charm.  
  
"Now the Zindelano Charm, is the type used only as a last resort, when the world as you know it, could come to an end. As I'm sure you all know it was used by fifty-one students and alumni of Hogwarts, myself included, to kill Lord Voldemort. This is only a last resort, because you have to make sure it is worth the death of fifty people to stop the evil. It is the most effective way to kill someone other than the killing curse itself, but that one is illegal and this one is not. Also the Zindelano Charm will only kill someone evil. To perform this charm, you need fifty-one people under the age of thirty who have pure intentions. This group of people should stand in a circle, holding wands not hands, and say the chant, which is almost completely jiberish. It goes: Abolish, abolish, hallywoo dactrone, elipitus forcium, hallywoo dactrone, hallywoo dactrone, elipitus forcium, hallywoo dactrone, elipitus dactrone, hallywoo forcium." The students laughed at this, for it did sound quite funny. Alayna smiled. She always smiled at kind-hearted innocent laughter; simply couldn't help not too.  
  
"Ah, don't laugh, those words may sound silly, but could quite possibly be some of the most powerful in the world. Once that happens, then an invisible shield surrounds the group. The next person that casts a spell that hits that shield will die. Then slowly fifty of the fifty-one people will die. The one left is the witness. That was me. The witness is there to tell the story of what happened. Also on that day all Deatheaters, Whether they were or were not supporting him currently, died. It was of course a plan of his, some kind of spell or potion he had used. To this day we still have no idea how he did it." This lesson was always very hard on Alayna. She taught it anyway though, because it was now a major part of history, and a very effective defence against the dark arts. "So you were the lucky one, you didn't have to die." Said Ginny Weasly. She was actually Bill Weasly's daughter, named for her aunt who was part of the charm. She knew all about the charm, having lost four uncles and an aunt because of it. This question stung a nerve in Alayna. "No." She said firmly, banging her fist on the desk. Ginny pulled back sharply. "I am not the lucky one. I wish with all my heart and sole that I had died that day! I had to watch all my friends, everyone I knew! - die. It was beyond horrible. No word can describe my pain. It feels like a thousand knives sticking into my heart!" She was sobbing now. "Every little memory, and this building is bursting with them, brings back fresh new pain for me to suffer through! I would do anything! Anything! To make it stop but I can't! Nothing can stop the pain or fill the void!" The class was very shocked at this spilling of emotions. They didn't know what to do. Alayna's tone turned from angery and sad to wistful. "And I can't end my life, because if I do - the charm won't work!" She shrugged almost started laughing. "It won't work! How wonderful is that! Voldemort will come back to life, full force, and my friends and I will be dead, having died for no reason. So I am forced to just wait out the rest of my days, waiting to die." The class now thought that she was partly insane. But who could blame her? "I-I'm s-sorry" Ginny stammered out. She felt as if it were all her fault that the teacher had burst out like that. In a way it was. but it was exactly what Alayna had needed. She had left all her emotions bottled up for so long. Once she took the job as the DADA teacher she had refused to let herself cry one more tear over her beloved friend. And she had kept that promise until now. She felt very refreshed, and a good deal happier than she had felt in many years. The bell rang. "Let's see. for homework write about one of your happiest memories. It can be anything happy or funny that brings a smile to your face. And only I will be reading them. Oh yes, and you only have to do one but I will give five house points to anyone who does two. Class dismissed." The students were shocked. This had to be the weirdest class they had ever attended. None of them had ever realized how miserable their favorite teacher was. She was normally very cheerful, always up to a good laugh. It must have been all an act. Maybe she thought that if she at least pretended to be happy that she would be. Alayna Rictorno died on July 10 at the age of 117. She would have kept teaching right up to the day she died, except she died in the summer in her sleep. (This is now Alayna's point of view)  
  
As I drifted up to heaven, I was filled with excitement. Now I could finally be at peace, with my friends. I walked through the entrance and was filled with happiness. Right before me was everyone I loved. All of my friends along with various family members, like my dad, who was an auror, but was killed on the job. I hadn't seen him since I was four. Everyone was there and all I could do was cry as I hugged everyone as hard as I could, never wanting to let go for fear it was a dream. It wasn't though, this was the real thing.  
  
"This is the happiest day of my life!" I wailed through tears and laughter.  
  
"You mean after life!" Hermione said grinning. I thought for moment then shook my head. "No, happiest moment of both." I truly was in heaven. 


End file.
